Comforting Arms
by AmeliaFJones
Summary: Set in the 2019 reboot universe. When Carmen has a nightmare, she goes to Player for comfort. Player muses on their relationship and what Carmen means to him after being woken up by his radio.


A/N: So, this came about after I thought about what a cute couple this version of Carmen and Player would make. Though, any other version of her I ship with Where's Waldo because I like crossovers. The song referenced in the fic is 'Places I've Never Been' By Mark Wills. Please go check it out.

I own neither Carmen Sandiego nor 'Places I've Never Been'

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The silence of the night was broken by the crackle of a radio. Player looked over his shoulder, glaring at the radio on his computer desk. It was an old one, one of the first electronics he had ever taken apart and put back together. Now it was used to try and catch any frequencies that V. . could be using. Every now and then though, it would pick up a radio station.

It had found a country music station this time. He looked down at the woman in his arms laying with him on his bed. She was still sound asleep which was rare. Usually Carmen would wake at the tiniest sound. He smiled a little at the thought that she trusted him enough to actually sleep beside him.

Carmen being in his room had become a common occurrence whenever she was near. She had been having nightmares every now and then. Sometimes they were clear, other times they were disjointed and she couldn't make sense of them. Of course, Player was the person she called to talk to. Ivy and Zack were usually sleeping and Carmen didn't want to wake them. Player always made sure to answer when Carmen called.

The first time she had asked if she could come over, he had been hesitant. No one had been in his room since he had moved to the apartment after leaving his parents' house. He had also hesitated because he wasn't quite sure if Carmen would be followed. Even if he followed the white hat hacker code, he had made some enemies with his meddling. It would have been bad if someone had followed her. Not that anyone besides Zack and Ivy knew they worked together, but still.

After hearing the sadness in her voice at his explanations, even though she reassured him she understood, he had given her his address. Carmen was smart and he had decided to trust her ability. He knew she wouldn't let herself be followed. Besides that, he did want to meet her in person. She was the first friend he had had in a long time.

This time she, Ivy, and Zack, with Player's help, had finished stealing a valuable Iroquois artifact from Tigress who had been trying to sell it to the highest bidder. They had returned the artifact and everything had settled down. Carmen, Ivy, and Zack had gone back to the hotel they were sharing and Player had relaxed and took the time to eat and drink and use the bathroom. He even took a mini nap. Then Carmen had called around 1 am after waking from a nightmare and wanted to see him.

And now they were here. The radio began playing some song with a very soft and lulling melody. He let himself listen to the lyrics. A love song. It had a nice message.

He found himself swaying his head to the music even though he didn't care too much for country music. He looked down at Carmen again and unconsciously tightened his grip on her as he really felt the lyrics from the song. Carmen grunted a little, but snuggled closer to him and settled back down. He half wished she would open her eyes so he could look into them. He always felt weird every time he did. There was so much in those brown eyes of hers and he could only wonder what she saw when she looked into his.

She had become his lifeline to the outside world in the time they had known each other. His agoraphobia (1) prevented him from going out anywhere and so he had turned to technology and hacking. He could see what was happening through it, but it wasn't the same as seeing it in person. Since he had met Carmen he had seen many things up close that he had never dreamed of seeing and she seemed to be more than willing to let him experience the world through her.

It was weird, though, that he felt like he was travelling by just holding her like this. Especially since they really weren't doing anything. But then, dreams were great at transporting you wherever you wanted to go. He had never really dreamed before Carmen had started sleeping beside him. It was new and exciting.

If he were to be honest with himself, he really would be fine if Carmen stayed here. He wouldn't mind sharing his space with her. Maybe once they had defeated V.I.L.E he would ask her. He really didn't need to see the world at all. He had everything he needed in his arms.

He leaned his head down as the song finished and kissed the top of her head. The radio went silent and he rolled his eyes, glaring at it once more. As if that would make it stay silent. He turned his attention back to Carmen and smiled. He took a deep breath, bringing her scent into his nose. He smiled as he felt her head find the junction of his neck and shoulder.

Yeah... once everything was over he would ask her. Until then, he would simply enjoy these few stolen moments in time.

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1: Agoraphobia: fear of the outside (basically)

A/N: I feel like Player has some kind of Agoraphobia given that he told Carmen he was happy in his 'dark little cave'. He seems like a very big introvert to me and it seems like he doesn't want to go much if at all.


End file.
